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Forum:Bonnie's Complex
Everyone is not A Target Concerning Bonnie's supposed superiority complex. Let me be clear in that I agree she seems to have one. But I don't really like the phrase "a superiority complex toward Kim, Ron Stoppable, their friends, and people in general, whom she considers to be beneath her". That makes it sound like everyone around Bonnie automatically becomes a target. And there are several issues with that very broad statement: *Bonnie interacts with plenty of people without actively putting them down: those that benefit her in some way, or don't threaten her social status, or would threaten her status if she treated them the wrong way. People like Mr. Barkin and Tara and the other cheerleaders, for example. She coexists with them just fine. So while the superiority complex is a major part of her life, it is not her entire life and does not completely rule her actions. If it is truly a defense mechanism, seems to me it would only come into play when Bonnie felt threatened. And the only people in my mind that Bonnie considers threats to her self-esteem are her sisters and Kim, possibly her mother. So I would argue that her complex stems from the treatment by her sisters, and that Kim usually serves as the unwilling focus of it. Bonnie likely desires attention and recognition because of the complex, but if it were really triggered by nearly everyone she met, I doubt she'd have any friends at all. *I highly doubt Bonnie's treatment of Ron was ever based on her feeling inferior to him, especially if she's supposed to have a superiority complex that he triggers. If anything, she picked on Ron because he was inferior to her in school without her having to work at it, and therefore was a terribly easy target in his own right. Plus he was Kim's best friend as an added bonus. And really, the few times Ron was popular, instead of sabotaging him, Bonnie usually sucked up to him instead. If she really felt inferior to him, she would have torn him down when he was up, not basked in his presence. That she didn't means she didn't feel inferior to him. I really doubt she would ever suck up to anyone she genuinely felt inferior to, based on her reactions to her sisters and Kim. Anyway, why would Bonnie have a superiority complex as relates to Ron of all people? She actually was considered superior to him by most people, and she knew it. Wouldn't shut up about it, in fact. *Despite Amelia's admittedly higher social standing, that was more than likely only because she was a year ahead, which essentially made her the Bonnie of her year. If they were in the same year, she would have been one of Bonnie's main rivals, and Kim wouldn't have taken quite as much heat as a result. But I would argue they were virtually equal in popularity despite the year difference. Bonnie wanted to get along with Amelia for the expected reasons, but I don't think she ever truly felt inferior to her, which is likely why the complex never triggered around her. And really, since Amelia was not a cheerleader, Bonnie likely would have been more popular than her if they had been in the same year. So to sum it up: yes, Bonnie was pretty nasty to some people. Just not always because she secretly felt inferior to them. That would only apply to Kim, Connie, and Lonnie for sure. Some people she was just mean to because she didn't like them. After all, she disliked Kim before the hero thing came into the picture. And though Bonnie was already picking on Ron by then, I'm sure he didn't help his case any by carrying around a live rat in his pocket. - Dap00 04:49, May 1, 2013 (UTC) I agree with 99% of that analysis. If anything, Bonnie is working the Food Chain. *Personally, in my head* I like the idea that Kim and Bonnie *used* to be friends, prior to what we see even in ASiT, but that something came between them. I think Ron was a part of that something in that Bonnie felt the need to leave him behind in some new social standing, perhaps some paradigm shift when graduating from Elementary and entering into Middle schools. The "Twisted sisters" may have had something to do with that. But Kim would not throw away her friendship with Ron, and somehow, inexplicable to Bonnie's worldview, Kim managed to maintain her popularity status on the Food Chain. --supposition and fanon, but I lived it, and see it all the time in my practice. As for Amelia… whatever her standing is, she is above Bonnie, and why Bonnie seeks to curry her favor by saving seats at lunch (Animal Attraction). Amelia seemed to be able to set standards for the Chain as she was able to imbue and remove Popular Status with Ron with impunity. So it would seems she is able to shape the Fads and Status of the Chain. Once again, *in m'haed*, Ames was the school's Beauty Queen, grooming Bonnie as her Heir Apparent Successor. Which also fits the saving seats thing. Make what you will of any of that. Love Robin (talk) 05:23, May 1, 2013 (UTC) ::LR could likely speak more to this, but my understanding is that one suffering from a superiority complex doesn't necessarily act superior to the people that make them feel inferior. It is a lot like bullying, where a child is made to feel helpless by someone and thus they seek out others to make feel helpless, thus making them feel like they have some control in their lives. ::Therefore, I don't see how your reasoning that Bonnie exhibits a superiority complex has anything to do with her only manifesting that behavior with people who make her feel inferior. The way that she treats Ron is a prime example of someone suffering from a superiority complex. Bonnie's sisters make her feel inferior, thus to compensate for these feelings of inadequacy she will seek to make those that she views inferior to her miserable. ::The real conundrum to me is how she treats Kim. Her treatment of Kim seems to have a lot less to do with any feelings of inadequacy and more to do with the fact that Kim doesn't conform to her ideal of the natural order of things. In this regard, Bonnie isn't so much acting out of a superiority complex as she is acting as a force of social conformity. ::This also explains why she acts the way that she does to others. Barkin, Tara, and the other cheerleaders all act in ways that subscribe to her idea of what is socially acceptable. Thus, she doesn't have to be abrasive with them. Kim and Ron are the objects of her scorn because they don't exactly fit into her social expectations. Kim doesn't act like a "cheerleader" should in Bonnie's mind. Ron is a complete enigma to her most of the time. The notable times that he isn't an enigma to her (when he is rich or has nice hair or what not) she acts towards him as her social ideal should. ::This also explains why she might treat those socially lower then her as inferior. It is socially acceptable, perhaps even expected, that the upper social class keep the lower social class "in their place". So, in this sense, everyone is a target of Bonnie, but that target isn't necessarily an aggressive target as long as they conform to her ideal of social class and acceptable behavior for those classes. ::At least that is my two cents. ::Mknopp (talk) 17:33, May 1, 2013 (UTC) :::Actually, I tend to think that Kim was the one who made Bonnie feel the most inadequate at school, which is why she got the worst treatment from Bonnie. Bonnie was always competing with Kim, trying to be superior to her. Bonnie had her victories here and there, but there were several areas where she simply could not compete with Kim. Bonnie rarely ever helped save the world, had few people that genuinely liked her for her, and even less that would do her a favor due to some past kindness. Kim got lots of friends by being nice and helpful, Bonnie mostly had people she wasn't outright cruel to solely because they didn't threaten her status. It's very difficult to top saving the world at all, but even harder when you seem to care about so few people in it to begin with. Mind you, I'm not saying that Kim deserved the harsh treatment, just that there's little doubt in my mind as to why Bonnie reacted to her that way. :::As for social conformity, I don't really buy that in Kim's case. Kim was as popular as she was without conforming. If Kim had conformed as Bonnie told her to, seems to me that only would have increased Kim's popularity to unheard of levels, which Bonnie really didn't want. Kim dating Brick all through high school, for example, would have been a near-fatal blow to Bonnie's popularity. According to her, all the "acceptable" guys were taken for prom, so who would that have left for Bonnie? If you thought she had to rig homecoming before, imagine the damage control she'd have to do without her having dated Brick for so long. I think the conformity was just an excuse to make Kim feel inadequate, and it worked. - Dap00 19:22, May 1, 2013 (UTC) ::::There is a debate as to if inferiority and superiority complexes do or do not also contain the other causing them to lashout in overcompensation. There is some degree of overlap, and Bonnie is a case-book example of this argument as BOTH your views *appear* to define her. To really diagnose her I'd have to be able to dialog with her, which IRL I cannot. But I would certainly consider her "middle of the road" in regards to both complexes, which makes her mediocre and that diagnoses would only serve to enrage her. Or depress her dependent upon her then-current life's sitch. ::::Strictly speaking, a case of *pure* Superiority Complex is not concerned with things such as vanity, appearances, and how society treats them as they have an inherent sense of being above and superior to all others. Victor von Doom is classic SC; in his worldview no one is his better. Bullies are often suffering from Inferiority, which causes them to over-compensate, and why they backdown when knocked back. The D-Hall Bullies appear to fit that, but again, I'd need to Dialog with them. ::::(My fanon for Bonnie's family is her father is stern, harsh, and abusive to his children. He is concerned with money and power, but unconcerned with prestige which is why my Mister Rockwaller doesn't care if he is ranked among the World's Richest. He is a shrewd business man, and although Patriarch to a long bloodline of Slayers and Guardians of the mystical Rockwall, would very easily enter into eldrich contracts to further his goal. I see him as a lessor Tony Stark (munitions dealer, not inventer) combined with a lesser von Doom. He feels himself neither Good nor Evil. However, he keeps his children off-balance with mid-games, and sees them as commodities with which he'll sweeten and leverage deals, ready to contract or outright sell his beautiful daughters to seal deals if necessary. Con & Lon manage to rise to his expectations, or at least not disappoint him overly much, whereas Bonnie falls ever short, no small thanks to Kim besting her even unintentionally. Mister is the type who would make Bonnie the Disappointment the Office Slut, a cubicle of glory-holes her workspace. His attitude is one of "I'm rich, you just live here. For now." However in fact, he also maintains a residence just off Rockwall Manor property for the kids to be kids and out from under his feet. (I had formed the Rich Fam before I caught the outside of Bonnie's house and that's how I compensated for it)). ::::Which is why Bonnie is so fucked up. However, *outside* her family, she is expert at gaming the Social Food Chain of "everybody in their place" and thinks if not for Kim --and Ron-- unintentionally upsetting her world's applecart, would be able to gain her father's approval. But that's moi…. ::::For the purposes of this wiki, I'd go with Bonnie comfortable with definitive labels and niches, contempuous of any which cannot be so placed. ::::Love Robin (talk) 21:47, May 1, 2013 (UTC)